Jeremiah Attaochu plays a 3-4 stand up Outside Linebacker. Clemson’s offensive scheme took him out of the box at time to compensate for the stacked WR formation. Attaochu lines up into the boundary for the game except for just a few plays. His motor and hustle along with his instincts

Attaochu is extremely quick and explosive out of his stance. Here, he is nearly two yards up field as most of his teammates are just leaving their stances.

really stood out in this game.

Against the run: Attaochu was active against the run in this game. He kept a low base and had some good leverage. He did get out of his style and was a bit too high at some points, but he cleaned it up. His best results came when he punched and pressed the blocker and using a good rip to shed and make a play. On run away Attaochu showed good instincts to come flat down the backs of the offensive line and make a rundown tackle.

Pass Rush: How explosive Attaochu is off the ball was impressive. He is what people call a “Quick Twitch” type of player and has an extremely quick first step. Attaochu comes off so quick he is nearly two to three steps into his pass rush before some of his teammates are getting into theirs (right). Attaochu comes off so quickly that it makes the speed rush his go to move. He lost his footing a few times and needs to improve upon that. Saw some great closing speed from Attaochu when Tahj Boyd got out of the pocket, but he failed to come to control and make a play.

Coverage: Thought there was a good room from improvement for Attaochu in his coverage ability after this game. When he drops he is way to high with no knee bend. It causes him to be slow in his backpedal and basically causing him to hop around. Caught him with his back completely turned to the Quarterback at one point, something you never want to see.

Play that stood out: 3 Down and 10 on the opening drive of the game. Attaochu shows good burst off the ball getting into his pass rush. As the Right Tackle from Clemson is able to pick up his speed rush, Attaochu does a good job with his strength. He then bends into the tackle, continuing his fight and then uses his powerful rip to fight through. He ends up getting a sack from behind Boyd, getting the Georgia Tech offense off the field on third down.

Once again Attaocchu is mainly a boundary stand up Outside Linebacker in Georgia Tech’s 3-4 scheme. He did put his hand down in the dirt for a play on a rush. Attaochu was matched up with Menelik Watson for a majority of the game, and it was a good battle against the second round pick of the Oakland Raiders.

Against the run: Physicality and quickness stuck out this game with Attaochu. Attaochu did a good job with being physical with blockers and getting leverage. He showed the ability to punch into the tackles and use his leverage to throw them. For down blocks and reaches, Attaochu was just too quick. He did a great job the whole game of fighting across the hands, causing the offender to come off balance and reach (right).

This image is used to show Jeremiah Attaochu’s strength and ability to fight through the hands of a reach. He does a great job of getting into the offensive lineman, ripping through and setting an edge.

Pass Rush: In this game again Attaochu’s burst off the ball gave him an advantage in his speed rush. How Attaochu uses his speed rush into his shoulder dip is nice, but its the quick rip that he gives up and through the hands of the Tackle which was the most impressive. Not only was his rip impressive on outside moves, but when he came underneath and to the inside of the Tackles he used it effectively, along with good strength. Florida State used sets with Tight End Nick O’Learly quite often, and thought Attaochu did a nice job getting a chip on him, disrupting the timing of the routes. Attaochu also showed a spin move, but it got him nowhere. To the right you will see how Attaochu is able to get under the hands of blockers by dropping his pad level and dipping his shoulder.

Coverage: Attaochu was high in drops again. In a cover three he did a good job getting his hands on a seam route, taking it away from Quarterback EJ Manuel but was slow getting to the curl.

Here, Attaochu uses his shoulder dip to fight past the hands of the hands of the Florida State offensive tackle. As the tackle extends his arms, Attaochu lowers his pads and makes it nearly impossible for the offender to have any chance.

Play that stood out: 2 Down and 7 just entering the start of the second half. Attaochu is in his boundary stand up position lined up across Watson and Attaochu comes on a speed rush. As Attaochu works into his speed rush, he starts to dip his shoulder perfectly bending the edge. As Watson is into his offensive drop and goes to extend his hands into Attaochu, he rips up perfectly with his inside arm through Watson’s hands. Once he has Watson beat he drives to the Quarterback and gets a sack from behind on Manuel.

What he does well

Attaochu is a high motor, high speed type of player. He is all over the field and doesn’t stop playing until the whistle is blown. He comes off the ball with great burst and has an explosive first step. Against the run Attaochu is physical at the point of attack and does a good job control the pads of offenders to be able to shed them quickly. He keeps a strong base which allows him to keep good leverage and ultimately control the offender. Attaochu is also a good fold and flow player with the ability to come right down the butts of the linemen. In his pass rush, Attoachu’s burst gives him a good speed rush. He does a good job of bending the edge and dropping and ripping through the hands of offensive tackles. In his pass rush and against the run, Attaochu is very active with his hands and is able to shed blockers quickly.

What he needs to improve

One point of Attaochu’s game that needs to improve is his pad level in his pass drops. Here Attaochu is nearly standing straight up and has very little knee bend along with a dropped butt.

Attaochu has great strength and agility, but struggles to use that strength in tackling. Too many times ball carriers slip out of Attaochu because he arm tackles. It was also noted that he stopped his feet on an open field tackle, which allowed the carrier to gain an extra few yards. Attaochu really needs to improve in his pass drops which is definitely his weakest point right now. To the right you can see how high Attaochu is into his drops, and doesn’t gain the depth and ground he needs to.

Top Matchups

9/21 vs. North Carolina

10/05 at Miami

11/14 at Clemson

11/30 vs. Georgia

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